Chapter 15
Introduction to Physical Geography Homework: Chapter 15
Key Terms and Concepts (1-24)
1. Denudation is the total effect of all actions (weathering, mass wasting, and erosion) that lower the surface of the continents.
2. Weathering- the physical and chemical disintegration of rock that is exposed to the atmosphere.
Mass-wasting- the short-distance down slope movement of weathered rock under the direct influence of gravity; also called mass movement.
Erosion- detachment, removal, and transportation of fragmented rock material.
3. Openings in the surface and near-surface bedrock are frequently microscopic, but they may also be large enough to be conspicuous and are sometimes huge. In any case, they occur in vast numbers and provide avenues along which weathering agents can attack the bedrock and break it apart. Subsurface weathering is initiated along these openings, which can be penetrated by such weathering agents such as water, air, and plant roots. As time passes, the weathering effects spread from the immediate vicinity of the openings into the denser rock beyond.
4. Joints are cracks that develop in bedrock due to stress, but in which there is no appreciable movement parallel to the walls of the joint. Faults are breaks in bedrock along which there is relative displacement of the walls of the crack.
5. Master joints are joints that run for great distances through a bedrock structure. Master joints play a role in topographic development by functioning as a plane of weakness, a plane more susceptible to weathering and erosion than the rock around it.
6. Mechanical weathering is the physical disintegration of rock material without any change in its chemical composition; also called physical weathering. Chemical weathering is the chemical decomposition of rock by the alteration of rock-forming minerals.
7. Frost wedging is the fragmentation of rock due to expansion of water that freezes into ice within rock openings.
8. Salt wedging is the rock
Key Terms and Concepts (1-24)
1. Denudation is the total effect of all actions (weathering, mass wasting, and erosion) that lower the surface of the continents.
2. Weathering- the physical and chemical disintegration of rock that is exposed to the atmosphere.
Mass-wasting- the short-distance down slope movement of weathered rock under the direct influence of gravity; also called mass movement.
Erosion- detachment, removal, and transportation of fragmented rock material.
3. Openings in the surface and near-surface bedrock are frequently microscopic, but they may also be large enough to be conspicuous and are sometimes huge. In any case, they occur in vast numbers and provide avenues along which weathering agents can attack the bedrock and break it apart. Subsurface weathering is initiated along these openings, which can be penetrated by such weathering agents such as water, air, and plant roots. As time passes, the weathering effects spread from the immediate vicinity of the openings into the denser rock beyond.
4. Joints are cracks that develop in bedrock due to stress, but in which there is no appreciable movement parallel to the walls of the joint. Faults are breaks in bedrock along which there is relative displacement of the walls of the crack.
5. Master joints are joints that run for great distances through a bedrock structure. Master joints play a role in topographic development by functioning as a plane of weakness, a plane more susceptible to weathering and erosion than the rock around it.
6. Mechanical weathering is the physical disintegration of rock material without any change in its chemical composition; also called physical weathering. Chemical weathering is the chemical decomposition of rock by the alteration of rock-forming minerals.
7. Frost wedging is the fragmentation of rock due to expansion of water that freezes into ice within rock openings.
8. Salt wedging is the rock